Auger mining machine



Feb. 22, 1966 Filed Dec. 21, 1961 T. A. LORA AUGER MINING MACHINE 6 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. THADA. LoEA H/s A T'TOENEY Feb. 22, 1966 T. A. LORA AUGER MINING MACHINE 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 21, 1961 v E fl w mwfm 3% 0 A A m MA T. A. LORA AUGER MINING MACHINE Feb. 22, 1966 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Dec. 21. 1961 MA ME mo mi A 0 A n BY %%M H15 A 7' TOE HEY Feb. 22, 1966 T. A. LORA 3,236,315

AUGER MINING MACHINE Filed Dec. 21 1961 6 Sheets-Sh t 4 INVENTOR. THADA. LOEA Feb. 22, 1966 T. A. LORA 3,236,315

AUGER MINING MACHINE Filed Dec. 21. 1961 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 IN V EN TOR. 74 40 A L OIeA H16 A r roams) Feb. 22, 1966 T. A. LORA 3,236,315

AUGER MINING MACHINE Filed Dec. 21, 1961 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 INVENTOR. THAD A L ORA H15 A rg agpsv United States Patent 0 3,236,315 AUGER MINING MACHINE Thad A. Lora, Salem, Ohio, assignor to The Salem Tool Company, Salem, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Filed Dec. 21, 1961, Ser. No. 161,051 9 Claims. (Cl. 173-43) This invention relates generally to auger mining machines and more particularly to Kelly bar type feed for auger-mining machines.

Auger mining machines ordinarily provide a base frame with a traveling carriage that supports a diesel engine prime mover together with transmission and drive clutch for direct engagement with the last auger section to feed it into the material to be mined. This machine requires a pan in the bottom of the frame to support the auger sections when being inserted or removed from the auger string. This pan requires an opening with a conveyor thereunder to remove the mined material at the front of the pan. The frame for this machine is of considerable thickness and the bench that is formed on the side of the hill must be made considerably below the seam to enable the auger to cut in at the bottom of the seam being mined. Thus not only the depth of the frame but its length must also be increased to carry the auger sections about to be inserted or removed from the auger string. This style of frame must be clear of cross braces throughout its length with only the bottom pan and braces which requires larger and more massive beams and channels to make up the frame. This long frame also requires a wider bench or shelf around the hill on which to support the auger mining machine and the trucks for hauling the mined material.

The principal object of this invention is the provision of an improved auger mining machine that eliminates the need for a traveling carriage with a moving engine drive and the need of a longer longitudinal and heavy frame for mining operations. The frame in the present invention is only as long as the fiuid motors that feed the auger string while mining through the use of a Kelly bar. The Kelly bar eliminates the need of a large prime mover to drive and feed the auger mining mechanism which in turn eliminates the need of a large longitudinal mining machine frame. The prime mover is stationary on the frame and rotatably drives the Kelly bar through a gear reduction that is driven from the transmission on the prime mover. The Kelly bar permits the frame to be very shallow and much smaller. A longitudinal guide track is supplied for the crosshead that is connected to the piston rods of the fluid motor to operate forwardly and rearwardly longitudinally within the frame, the rotating Kelly bar. All these points aid in the construction of a stitfer frame that is actually lighter. The Kelly bar is slidable within hearing supports fixed to the frame as well as within the sleeve and bore of the gear reducing drive mechanism.

Another object is the provision of inserted transverse recesses in the frame for receiving the skids upon which the mining machine may be moved transversely of its longitudinal frame. This permits only a small portion of the skid to be exposed and permits the transverse movement of the mining machine Without interference with the operation of the Kelly bar or its drive.

The forward end of the Kelly bar is provided with an auger coupling to which connection is made with the auger mining mechanism. Thus, another object of this invention is the provision of a pair of power operated skids which may be separately operated in order to manipulate the frame and Kelly bar in different angular positions to laterally crowd the application of mining forces on the auger mining mechanism through the auger coupling.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a coal drill having a frame supporting an engine for driving a Kelly bar and cylinders to feed this Kelly bar forwardly to drive auger mining drills into a seam to produce coal. Since the engine does not move onthe frame the operation of the machine may be handled by two men which provides ahigher man day tonnage in coal recovery which represents an important improvement of this invention. Again this machine is spaced from the highwall to insert the auger sections as well as to start the initial drilling. This permits the controls to be positioned at the front of the frame and actually oneman may operate the machine which further increases the productivity and is an important improvement in this invention. The single man operator must leave the control levers to hook-on and hook-off the hoist line for inserting and removing each auger section and also to release their drive connections with adjacent auger sections of the string and with the Kelly bar. With these remote controlled operations the machine can'be operated by only one man. The trucker who removes the coal can operate the conveyor that lifts the coal at the hole opening in the highwall.

Other objects and advantages of this invention appear hereinafter in the following description and claims.

The accompanying drawings show for the purpose of exemplification without limiting this invention or the claims thereto, certain practical embodiments illustrating the principles of this invention, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a view in side elevation with parts in section of the mining machine comprising this invention.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the machine comprising this invention. I

FIG. 3 is a detailed view of the frame of the machine comprising this invention.

FIG. 4 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 44 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 55 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is a transverse sectional view taken along the line 6-6 of FIG. 2. I

FIG. 7 is a front elevation of the machine with parts broken away and illustrating the controls.

FIG. 8 is a side view of the controls shown in FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a diagrammatic view in side elevation showing the machine in position for starting the hole.

FIG. 10 is a diagrammatic view inside elevation showing the machine in position for drilling the hole.

Refer-ring to FIGS 1 and 2 the auger mining machine comprising this invention includes a machine base 1 which is considerably shallower than the ordinary auger mining machine because this base contains only the Kelly bar and not the auger sections themselves. The frame -1 is made up of the spaced parallel longitudinal beams 2 and 3 which are shown in the transverse views of FIGS. 4 to 6 as the channel members 4 being closed by the plates 5 to form box beams. These parallel beams are connected by spaced transverse members 6 which are channel members, there being five downwardly open channel members 6 along the bottom of the frame connecting the beams 2 and 3 and three transverse members 6 at the top of the frame which are likewise downwardly open as illustrated in FIG. 1. In order to provide greater stability, two additional transverse members 6 are secured at their ends to the beams 2 and 3 at the bottom thereof. However, these transverse channel members 6 are upwardly open as illustrated in FIG. 1. The transverse channel members 6 are secured at their ends to the inner face of the box beams 2 and 3 which in elfect is the back of the channel members 4. v

The frame also includes the quadrangularly disposed guide rails in the form of the spaced channel rails 7 and 8 shown in FIG. 6 together with the spaced angle rails 10 and 11. As illustrated in FIG. 6 these rails 7, 8, 10

and 11 are quadrangularly arranged to receive the Kelly bar carriage or crosshead 12. The lower channel rails 7 and 8 are secured to the tops of the transverse members 6 and are braced laterally by the gusset plates 13 that are welded not only to the cross members 6 but also to the back of the web of the channel members 4 and to the interior of the webs of the channel rail members 7 and 8 as indicated in FIG. 6.

The angle rail members 10 and 11 are likewise secured to the upper cross member 5 and are also secured to the triangular gusset plates 14 that are welded to the cross members 6 the inner faces of the angular rail plates and 11 and the backs of the channel members 4 as shown in FIG. 6. Thus the quadrangularly arranged track mem bers 7 and 8 and 10 and 11 are rigid and become a portion of the frame 1 being tied into the longitudinal rails 2 and 3 and the cross members 6 thus providing a stilt and sturdy frame that is quite shallow.

The engine 15 is preferably of the diesel type being provided with a clutch 16 and connected with a transmission 17, the output shaft 18 of which connects with the shaft in the upper end of the gear reducing drive mechanism 20 which has two gear reductions one between the pinion 21 and the gear 22 and the other between the pinion 23 and the gear 24 secured to the sleeve 25 as illustrated in FIG. 4. The shafts supporting these gears and the sleeve 25 are all journaled in antifriction bearings in the casing of the gear reducing drive mechanism 20.

As shown in FIG. 4 the casing 26 has the transverse horizontal plates 27 braced by the vertical gusset plates 28. The plates 27 are bolted to the tops of the spaced parallel beams 2 and 3. The bottom of the casing 26 is provided with the outwardly projecting bracket 30 which is provided with holes for bolting the same against the inner faces of the channel members 4 making up the beams 2 and 3. Thus the plate members 27 and the brackets 30 together with the housing 26 form a rigid connection between the beams 2 and 3.

Each of the lower transverse members 6 are provided with the gusset plates 31 as shown in FIG. 5 for aiding in the securing of these plates to the backs of the channel members 4 of the beams 2 and 3 at a position in front of the guide members 7, 8, 10 and 11 which extend only from the rear of the frame 1 to adjacent the back of the front skid as illustrated at 56 in FIG. 3. The channel guide members 7 and 8 are held in spaced relation by the gusset plates 33 which are welded thereto and held to the side of the cross member 6 as shown in FIG. 6.

The drive sleeve 25 is provided with a bore of polygonal cross section as illustrated at 34 in FIG. 4 to receive the Kelly bar 35 which is of the same configuration and which extends rearwar-dly to the flange coupling 36 and forwardly to the auger coupling 37 at the front of the machine. On either side of the gear reducing drive mechanism 20 is positioned a Kelly bar bearing member 38 which consists of a base structure 40 welded to the top of a cross member 6 as illustrated in FIG. 5 and supporting an annular bearing cover member 41 which rotatably carries the Kelly bar bearing sleeve 42. Thus the Kelly bar is slidably received in each of the bearings 42 on opposite sides of the drive sleeve 25. The bores of the bearings 42 and the drive sleeve 25 all have the same configuration as the Kelly bar 35 and rotatably support the Kelly bar for sliding movement therein.

The rear end of the Kelly bar is connected to the Kelly bar bearing stub shaft 43 which is shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 as being supported by the spaced antifrictional bearings 44 in the housing member 45 secured by the bracket members 46 to the Kelly bar carriage 12. The Kelly bar carriage 12 has lateral flanges 47 secured within the spaced upper and lower plates or shoes 48 mounted on opposite sides of a spacer that extends laterally in order to form the sockets 50 carrying the pins 51 for receiving the eyes on the ends of the piston rods 52. The piston 4- rods 52 extend forwardly to their respective cylinders 53 which are in turn secured to the pads 54 on the back or inner faces of the beams 2 and 3 as illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4. The spaced upper and lower plates 48 form a shoe that slides between quadrangularly arranged guide rails 7, 8, 10 and 11 as shown in FIG. 6. The shoes formed by the plates 48 have considerable extension as illustrated in FIG. 3 so that they give good support for the spaced bearings carrying the Kelly bar stub shaft 43 and the end of the Kelly bar 35. Thus by contraction of the piston rods 52 in the cylinders 53 the Kelly bar is fed forwardly through the bearings 38 and the drive sleeve 25 which when rotating the Kelly bar permits the latter to mine the coal as the Kelly bar advances forwardly from the frame of the machine.

The beam-s 2 and 3 are provided with the recesses 55 shown in FIG. 1 for receiving the skids 56. Adjacent each recess the outer face of the beams 2 and 3 are provided with brackets supporting the upper pair of rollers 57 and the lower pair of rollers 58. These rollers are on opposite sides of the spaced upper rails 60 of the skids 56, the upper rails being connected by vertical plates 61 with the bottom plate 62 of the skid. An intermediate plate 63 connecting the vertical plate 61 and provided with a bracket 64 for pivotally receiving the end of the piston rod 65 operates in the cylinder 66 the other end of which is pivotally supported at 67 to the beam 3 as illustrated in FIG. 2 and FIG. 6. Each of the cylinders 66 are independently actuated in either direction to enable one to operate the skids 56 for moving the frame and for steering the frame as it is being moved.

The frame 1 is provided with four lifting jacks as illustrated at 70 at approximately the four corners of the frame. Each cylinder jack as illustrated in FIG. 4 is provided with a foot member 71 pivota lly secured to the cylinder 72 and is expansible and contractible for raising that portion of the frame. These four jacks 70 permit the frame to be raised off the ground for the purpose of re-setting the skids in tramming the machine as disclosed and described in United States Patents Nos. 2,935,309, 3,114,425 and 3,055,447, or for aiding in the drilling of coal as illustrated in conjunction with FIGS. 9 and 10. As shown in FIGS. 2, 7 and 8 the controls for the machine .are placed in front of the frame and may be operable from either side thereof at the stations 73 and 74. The first three controls indicated at 75, 76 and 77 represent the controls for operating the hoist 79. The hoist 79 is very similar in construction and operation to the hoist mechanism disclosed and described in United States Patent No. 3,091,439. The hoist 79 and its support is positioned toward the forward end of the base 1 since the auger sections are positioned and removed from the mining operation outside the machine forward of the auger coupling 37 as compared to the method of placement and removal disclosed in Patent No. 3,091,439 wherein the auger sections are positioned and removed from the belly plate within the frame of the auger mining machine. The control 75 actuates the auger hoist lift and when operated in one direction will feed out the hoist line and operated in the opposite direction will take up the hoist line. The control 76 is an auger hoist swing control which when operated in one direction will swing the hoist clockwise and operated in the other direction will swing the hoist counterclockwise. The third control 77 is for the purpose of actuating an automatic hooking device on the hoist which is preferably of the magnetic type which when actuated in one direction will energize the magnet for attaching the hoist line to the auger section to be manipulated and when actuated in the opposite direction will deenergize the circuit to automatically release the auger section.

The next control is that for the Kelly bar travel as.

illustrated at 78. When this lever is operated in one direction the Kelly bar is caused to feed forwardly out through the frame and when operated in the opposite direction the cylinders 53 are caused to retract the Kelly bar within the frame. It should be noted as illustrated in FIG. 3 when the cylinders are fully retracted the Kelly bar and its carriage together with the couplings 37 attached to the front end of the Kelly bar lie wholly within the longitudinal dimensions of the frame which frame is considerably smaller than that of other types of auger mining machines for operating coal angers of the size operated by this machine which augers may be larger than thirty-six inches in diameter.

The control 80 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 8 is a remote control lever for operating the clutch 16. This control lever actuates the cylinder 81 which in turn moves the clutch lever 82 for disengaging the clutch from the machine to the transmission 17. The transmission is likewise provided with the gear shift handle 83 as illustrated in FIG. 5. Thus the controls just described may be placed on either side of the machine. However, they are better positioned on the right side of the machine as illustrated in FIG. 2.

A bracket member 84 is secured to the right side of the frame and the bracket supporting the hoist and the right front jack of the machine. This bracket supports the pads 85 to which the cylinder 86 is secured. The cylinder 86 is a double acting cylinder controlled by the control lever 87 and includes a piston rod 88 carrying the pulley 90. A sheave bracket 91 is secured to the forward end of the bracket 84 and a cable 92 extends from the pin 93, around the pulley 90 and thence forwardly to the member 94 which may be used to remove the auger string from the previously drilled hole. If two men are operating the machine one man may withdraw or retrieve the auger string removing each section at a time for the purpose of adding the same to the auger string being employed to drill the next consecutive hole. When two men operate the machine in this manner one man will operate the hoist and the couplings and the other man will guide and feed the auger string into the coal seam.

Referring now to FIGS. 9 and it will be noted that the hole to be drilled in the coal by the head 95 is approximately twenty-eight inches from the bench or shelf 1G3 and the jacks 70 are raised until the point 96 of the head 95 is at the position where it is desired that it enter the coal seam. The auger coupling 37 has a loose clearance fit with the pin on the auger which allows the auger to hang downwardly. The frame 1 is elevated by the jacks so that when the auger section hangs downwardly the point 96 is at the proper position in the coal seam for starting the hole. At this time the Kelly bar is forced forwardly so as to apply pressure at the point 96 and the Kelly bar is then rotated. It may be rotated either in the direction that the head 95 will dig or in the opposite direction and it is rotated in this manner until the head partially enters the coal as illustrated in FIG. 9. Obviously since the Kelly bar is not aligned either vertically or horizontally with the axis of the bore of the hole to be made the first section of the auger will gyrate somewhat and vibrate the machine. However, it will produce a hole deep enough to properly support the head when the machine is lowered to the position shown in FIG. 10. If it is desired to feed the auger to the left or to the right the whole of the machine frame must be set to the left or let us say, in the direction opposite to that in which it is desired that the head travel. After the head has started the hole in. the position desired, then the machine together with the Kelly bar is concentrically aligned with the axis of the hole and the auger section so that it will drill straight. In like manner the machine may be raised or lowered to start the hole up or down as may be desired. As shown in FIG. 10 the machine has been axially aligned with the axis of the hole so that the auger sections will proceed axially of the hole and drill a straight hole. If for some reason the auger starts to drift from the intended axial aligned hole, the machine may be re-set at an angle, laterally, vertically or in combination to counteract the drift by applying pressure nonconcentrically with respect to the axis of the started hole by laterally crowding the application of the mining forces on the auger string through the manipulation of the controls of the fluid motors consisting of the cylinders 53 and the skid cylinders 66 and piston rods 65.

At the forward end of the frame 1 a mechanism housed at 97 as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 may be provided in order to enable auger sections to be easily disconnected from the auger coupling 37. This mechanism is provided with a cylinder 98 for actuating a pin in the auger coupling to permit disconnection of the auger section 100 from the auger coupling 37. The Kelly bar 35 with its auger coupling 37 may be further retracted upon actuation of the cylinder 98 to disengage the coupling from the auger section socket. Such auger releasing mechanisms are described and disclosed in United States Patent No. 3,091,439 and United States Patent application Serial No. 207,637 filed July 5, 1962. After the auger section 100 is disconnected from a forward consecutive auger section in a string of anger sections, the hoist 79 may be swung into position over the forward end of the frame 1 as shown in FIG. 1 to remove the disconnected auger section to a place of storage. The retrieving cylinder 86 may then subsequently be employed to remove the other auger sections from the drilled hole.

A device as illustrated at 97 in FIG. 9 may also be supplied at the side of the machine in longitudinal alignment with the retrieving cylinder 86 as illustrated in FIG. 2 for the purpose of releasing each consecutive auger section, the device 97 being controlled by fluid control levers 101, 102 as auger sections are withdrawn from the drilled hole adjacent to the hole that is being drilled in which case when each consecutive auger section is free it may be hoisted and positioned in alignment with the auger string that is drilling a new hole and by the forward movement of the Kelly bar the new auger section may be inserted in position and the Kelly bar moved forward to engage the spring biased locking pins and continue to drill or drill the hole and remove the coal therefrom.

With the foregoing mechanism one operator need only be employed to operate the machine. However, he will not employ the retrieving apparatus but merely uncouple each auger section after the hole has been drilled and store the auger sections to one side of the machine preferably the opposite side from which the coal is removed. With this automatic coupling and uncoupling device the machine may be operated by one person.

I claim:

1. An auger mining machine consisting of a shallow frame having spaced parallel longitudinal beams connected by spaced transverse members, an engine mounted pivotally connected to said piston rods to forwardly and rearwardly feed said bar longitudinally relative to said beams while rotated by said drive sleeve, and an auger coupling on the other end of said Kelly bar to detachably engage and rotatably operate an auger string.

2. An auger mining machine consisting of a shallow frame having spaced parallel longitudinal beams connected by spaced transverse members, an engine mounted on said frame, drive means supported from said frame having a rotary drive sleeve with a bore of polygonal cross-section rotatably driven by said drive means through driving'connection with said engine, parallel cylinders mounted on the forward inner faces of said longitudinal beams, pistons in said cylinders having piston rods extending rearwardly substantially to the rear end of said longitudinal beams when expanded, a Kelly bar shaped to slidably fit the polygonal bore of said drive sleeve, a crosshead slidable within said frame between said beams and rotatably supporting one end of said Kelly bar and pivotally connected to said piston rods to forwardly and rearwardly feed said bar longitudinally relative to said beams while rotated by said drive sleeve, and an auger coupling on the other end of said Kelly bar to detachably engage and rotatably operate an auger string, a crosshead guide engaged by said crosshead and including quadrangularly arranged upper and lower pairs of guide rail members secured to said longitudinal beams and transverse members of said frame, and shoes on said crosshead to slidably engage between said upper and lower guide rail members.

3. The auger mining machine of claim 1 characterized in that said rotatable connection between the rear end of said Kelly bar and said crosshead includes spaced bearings, a cylindrical shaft journaled in said bearings, and coupling means securing said Kelly bar with said cylindrical shaft.

4. The auger mining machine of claim 1 characterized in that said Kelly bar of such length that when said auger coupling is retracted by the extension of said piston rods said crosshead and said auger coupling are withdrawn completely within the ends of said frame.

. 5. An auger mining machine consisting of a shallow frame including longitudinal beams connected in parallel spaced relation and each having aligned downwardly open skid recesses to receive a pair of power operated skids, a pair of rollers in each recess and rotatably carried on the beams to ride on the top of said skids to support the machine for steering movement and manipulation, a transverse crosshead slidable longitudinally of said frame, a pair of power operated cylinders mounted to extend along the inner faces of said beams with their piston rods extending rearwardly of the beams and connected to the opposite ends of said transverse crosshead, a Kelly bar having its rear end rotatably connected to said crosshead for reciprocal movement by said piston rods, a rotary drive means mounted on said frame with drive sleeve of polygonal cross section to slidably receive and rotate said Kelly bar, an auger coupling on the forward end of said Kelly bar to detachably engage and operate auger mining mechanism, said power operated skids and cylinders shifting said frame and crosshead to laterally crowd the application of mining forces on said mining mechanism through said Kelly bar.

6. The auger mining machine of claim 5 characterized inthat said pairs of rollers are outboard of said beams.

7. The auger mining machine of claim 1 characterized inthat said spaced parallel beams are boxed beams.

8. An auger mining machine consisting of a shallow frame having spaced parallel longitudinal beams connected by spaced transverse members, rotary drive means mounted on the forward end of said frame, a crosshead slidable on and supported between said beams within said frame, parallel cylinders mounted on each side of the forward end of said frame, pistons in said cylinders having their piston rods extending rearwardly of said cylinders to the back of said frame and connected to each side of said crosshead to reciprocate the same within said frame, a Kelly bar for rotatably driving an anger mining means having its rearward end rotably supported on said crosshead and its forward end slidably supported and embraced by said drive means to rotatably drive said Kelly bar as it is reciprocated by said cylinders through said piston rods.

9. An auger mining machine consisting of a shallow frame having spaced parallel longitudinal beams connected by spaced top and bottom transverse members, parallel cylinders carried on the inner face of said longitudinal beams and extending rearwardly from the front end of said frame, pistons operable in each cylinder and having rods extending rearwardly substantially to the rear end of said longitudinal beams when expanded, an engine mounted on the top transverse members of said frame, a reduction gear means including a case connected to the top and bottom portions of both longitudinal beams and provided with a drive sleeve with a bore of-polygonal cross section which has driving connection to said engine, a Kelly bar of the same configuration and fitting said drive sleeve bore and extending therethrough, a Kelly bar bearing mounted on said frame on each side of said gear case and fitting said Kelly bar to support the same, a Kelly bar crosshead having a Kelly bar journal to support the rear end of said Kelly bar, connections on said crosshead for the ends of said piston rods, a Kelly bar crosshead guide supported by said frame extending between said gear case and the rear end of said frame to aid in holding the end of said Kelly bar as it moves back and forth, and an auger coupling on the front of said Kelly bar to engage and drive an auger mining string.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 280,781 7/1883 Barditsky 173-148 2,602,637 7/1952 Talbot 173-148 2,684,834 7/1954 Miller et al. 173-148 2,698,169 12/1954 Fawkes 262-608 2,744,726 5/1956 Cameaux 173-148 2,906,515 9/1959 Swanson et a1 262-15 2,967,701 1/ 1961 Wilcox 262-11 CHARLES E. OCONNELL, Primary Examiner.

BENJAMIN HERSH, Examiner. 

1. AN AUGER MINING MACHINE CONSISTING OF A SHALLOW FRAME HAVING SPACED PARALLEL LONGITUDINAL BEAMS CONNECTED BY SPACED TRANSVERSE MEMBERS, AN ENGINE MOUNTED ON SAID FRAME, DRIVE MEANS SUPPORTED FROM SAID FRAME HAVING A ROTARY DRIVE SLEEVE WITH ABORE OF POLYGONAL CROSS-SECTION ROTATABLY DRIVEN BY SAID DRIVE MEANS THROUGH DRIVING CONNECTION WITH SAID ENGINE, PARALLEL CYLINDERS MOUNTED ON THE FORWARD INNER FACES OF SAID LONGITUDINAL BEAMS, PISTONS IN SAID CYLINDERS HAVING PISTON RODS EXTENDING REARWARDLY SUBSTANTIALLY TO THE REAR END OF SAID LONGITUDINAL BEAMS WHEN EXPANDED, A KELLY BAR SHAPED TO SLIDABLY FIT THE POLYGONAL BORE OF SAID DRIVE SLEEVE, A CROSSHEAD SLIDABLE WITHIN SAID FRAME BETWEEN SAID BEAMS AND ROTATABLY SUPPORTING ONE END OF SAID KELLY BAR AND PIVOTALLY CONNECTED TO SAID PISTON RODS TO FORWARDLY AND REARWARDLY FEED SAID BAR LONGITUDINALLY RELATIVE TO SAID BEAM WHILE ROTATED BY SAID DRIVE SLEEVE, AND AN AUGER COUPLING ON THE OTHER END OF SAID KELLY BAR TO DETACHABLY ENGAGE AND ROTATABLY OPERATE AN AUGER STRING. 